Drowning Mona (2000)

Director:

Nick Gomez

Writer (WGA):

Peter Steinfeld (written by)

Release Date:

3 March 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Comedy

Tagline:

1 murder. 460 prime suspects. Not so much of a 'who done it' as a 'who didn't'.

Plot:

When a woman drives a car into the river to her death, everyone in town becomes a suspect.

Plot Keywords:

Suspect | Yugo | Overalls | Drowning | Car Accident

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Danny DeVito	...	Chief Wyatt Rash
Bette Midler	...	Mona Dearly
Neve Campbell	...	Ellen Rash
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Rona Mace
Casey Affleck	...	Bobby Calzone
William Fichtner	...	Phil Dearly
Marcus Thomas	...	Jeff Dearly
Peter Dobson	...	Lt. Feege Gruber
Kathleen Wilhoite	...	Lucinda
Tracey Walter	...	Clarence
Will Ferrell	...	Cubby the Funeral Director
Paul Ben-Victor	...	Deputy Tony Carlucci
Paul Schulze	...	Deputy Jimmy D.
Mark Pellegrino	...	Murph Calzone
Raymond O'Connor	...	Father Tom Stowick
Lisa Rieffel	...	Valerie Antonielli
Robert Arce	...	Dr. Schwartz
Brittany Peterson	...	Maria Lasala
Philip Perlman	...	Charm Motel Cashier
Melissa McCarthy	...	Shirley
Jason Monkarsh	...	Benny
Brian Doyle-Murray	...	Tow Truck Driver
Yul Vazquez	...	French Instructor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Danielle Camastra	...	White Trash Golfer (uncredited)
Dayna Price	...	Farmers Daughter (uncredited)
Adam Vernier	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Nick Gomez

Writing credits (WGA)
Peter Steinfeld		(written by)

Produced by
Al Corley	....	producer
Danny DeVito	....	executive producer
Eugene Musso	....	producer
Bart Rosenblatt	....	producer
Michael Shamberg	....	executive producer
Stacey Sher	....	executive producer
Jonathan Weisgal	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Michael Tavera

Cinematography by
Bruce Douglas Johnson

Film Editing by
Richard Pearson

Casting by
Monika Mikkelsen

Production Design by
Richard Toyon

Set Decoration by
Karen Agresti

Costume Design by
Terry Dresbach

Makeup Department
Patricia Almeida	....	assistant hair stylist
Merc Arceneaux	....	assistant makeup artist
Thomas R. Burman	....	special makeup effects artist
Keith Christiansen	....	special makeup effects artist
Bari Dreiband-Burman	....	special makeup effects artist
Audrey Futterman-Stern	....	hair department head (as Audrey Strong Futterman)
Angela Johnson	....	makeup artist
Eryn Krueger Mekash	....	assistant makeup artist (as Eryn Krueger)
Thomas Opitz	....	key hair stylist
Denise Pugh-Ruiz	....	makeup artist
Robert Ramos	....	hair stylist: Ms. Midler
Carol Strong	....	makeup department head
Eugenia Weston	....	makeup artist: Ms. Midler
Victoria Wood	....	wig maker
Eden Orfanos	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Spike Allison Hooper	....	post-production supervisor
Douglas Jones	....	production supervisor
Bart Rosenblatt	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carol D. Bonnefil	....	additional assistant director
Stacey Holmes	....	second second assistant director
Wendi Lampassi	....	second assistant director
Maura Naughton	....	second unit director
John Nelson	....	first assistant director
Ross Novie	....	additional assistant director

Art Department
Maurice Austin	....	art department assistant
Erik Berentsen	....	on-set dresser
Sharleen Bright	....	painter
Scott Buckwald	....	property master
Robert Cardillo	....	greens
Ron Churchman	....	propmaker foreman
David W. Clark	....	assistant property master (as David Clarke)
Sam Dean	....	propmaker
Andrea Dietrich	....	storyboard artist
Kirk Essiambre	....	greens
Steven E. Eyrse	....	head painter
Steven E. Eyrse	....	head scenic
J.M. Finholt	....	art department intern
Dorit Hurst	....	art department assistant (as Dorit Oberman)
Betty Krul	....	set designer
Christian Lopez	....	painter
Robert A. Maisto	....	construction coordinator (as Bobby Maisto)
Kenny Minster	....	property assistant: second unit
Jessica Otto	....	art department intern
Elizabeth A. Parks	....	painter
Nya Patrinos	....	lead man
Sarah Polley	....	art department assistant
Andrew L. Rael	....	laborer
Steve Salazar	....	propmaker
Athenaia Spiliotakos	....	art department intern
Scott B. Valdes	....	painter (as Scott Brian)
Freddy Waff	....	set dresser
Michael P. Walsh	....	signwriter
Rick Belosic	....	propmaker (uncredited)
Stephen McCumby	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Bart Sullivan	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Mary Andrews	....	dialogue editor
Jamie Baker	....	adr mixer
Andrew Bock	....	assistant sound editor
Frank Bradley	....	sound utility (as Francis J. Bradley)
Evan T. Chen	....	sound effects editor
Marty Church	....	foley recordist
Lawrence L. Commans	....	boom operator
Kat Craig	....	utility sound
Mark DeSimone	....	adr engineer
Ken Dufva	....	foley artist
Jeff Enden	....	sound utility
David Lee Fein	....	foley artist (as David Fein)
Christopher Flick	....	foley editor
Donald Flick	....	sound effects editor
Patrick Giraudi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ernest Jow	....	assistant sound editor
Jeff Kushner	....	sound designer
Jeff Kushner	....	supervising sound editor
Samuel Lehmer	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mark McBryde	....	adr mixer
Ryan Murphy	....	sound recordist
Ed Novick	....	additional sound mixer
Bryan Pennington	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Jeffrey Perkins	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tim Rakoczy	....	supervising sound assistant
Jason Rau	....	assistant sound editor
Mary Ruth Smith	....	adr supervisor
David E. Stone	....	dialogue editor (as David Stone)
Kelly Vandever	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mark Weingarten	....	production sound mixer
Frank Bradley	....	second boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Bill Cochran	....	special effects assistant
John C. Hartigan	....	special effects (as John Hartigan)
David Waine	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Michael Adkisson	....	compositing supervisor
Tom Gorey	....	imaging supervisor
Kentaro Isobe	....	modeler
Bruce Douglas Johnson	....	digital production coordinator
Douglas G. Johnson	....	matte artist
Adam Stern	....	rotoscope artist
Jim Towler	....	miniature maker
Christopher Dusendschon	....	in-show optical process and effects compositor: THDX (uncredited)
Christopher Dusendschon	....	main title and end credit sequence optical compositor: THDX (uncredited)
Christopher Dusendschon	....	optical element Hazeltine colorist: THDX (uncredited)
Steven Emmert	....	optical compositor: THDX (uncredited)

Stunts
Dane Farwell	....	stunt double: Phil
Cindy Folkerson	....	stunt coordinator
Cindy Folkerson	....	stunt double: Mona
Randall Huber	....	stunt double: Phil
Jay Jones	....	stunt knife thrower
Kent W. Luttrell	....	stunt double: Danny Devito (as Kent Lutrell)
Brian Maynard	....	stunt driver
Jeff Smolek	....	stunt double: Jeff
Brian J. Williams	....	stunt double: Phil

Camera and Electrical Department
Chris Ahern	....	additional electrician (as Christopher Ahern)
Joe Backes	....	grip
Matthew J. Barden	....	additional grip
Steve Belsky	....	gaffer
Stephen Brooks	....	generator operator
Randy Carrigan	....	additional grip
Raul Colletta	....	video playback operator
Wayne 'Woody' Cone	....	additional grip
John Connell	....	additional photographer
Don Duffield	....	rigging key grip
Eugene F. Duffy	....	additional electrician
Jason Elias	....	electrician
Jeffrey Ferraro	....	additional electrician (as Jeff Ferrero)
Rocky Ford	....	best boy grip (as Rocky W. Ford)
Steve Galvin	....	additional electrician (as Stephen Galvin)
Ákos Gulyás	....	film loader
Mike Henley	....	dolly grip
Tommy Hubbard	....	additional electrician
Bradford R. Jamieson	....	best boy electric
Paul Janossy	....	additional first assistant camera
Bengt Jonsson	....	director of photography: second unit
Wil Krug	....	additional electrician
Kevin J. Lanke	....	electrician
John Martens	....	additional electrician
Greg Mayer	....	electrician
Bradley McCollum	....	additional grip
Steven R. Morales	....	additional electrician
Ron Newburn	....	additional electrician
Jennifer Newell	....	additional grip
Angelo Orefice	....	additional electrician
John Palato	....	grip
Ralph Pichler	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Joel Randel	....	additional grip
Paul Reyes	....	additional grip
Felix Rivera	....	additional electrician
Ralph Sanders	....	additional electrician
David A. Santos	....	key grip
Peter Sorel	....	still photographer (as Peter Sorell)
David Tang	....	camera loader
Mike Tapp	....	additional grip
Allan Telias	....	second assistant camera
Rick Tiedeman	....	additional Steadicam operator
Rick Tiedeman	....	additional camera operator: "a" camera
Tom Van Otteren	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Tom Van Otteren	....	camera operator: jib camera
Warren Washington	....	additional electrician (as Warren Zubari Washington)
Troy Webb	....	additional electrician
William G. Webb	....	Steadicam operator (as Billy Webb)
William G. Webb	....	additional photographer (as Billy Webb)
William G. Webb	....	camera operator: "a" camera (as Billy Webb)
Kenny Youngblood	....	additional grip

Casting Department
Leah Buono	....	casting assistant
Shannon Dunn	....	extras casting coordinator (as Shannon K. Dunn)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Craig Ames	....	set costumer
Susan L. Bertram	....	set costumer
Pie Lombardi	....	costume supervisor
Bega Metzner	....	key costumer
Karen Vanderhorst	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Rick Greenhead	....	telecine colorist
Keith Henderson	....	assistant editor
Mo Henry	....	negative cutter
Jeff Kushner	....	associate editor
Dan Vallerie	....	color timer

Music Department
Bunny Andrews	....	music editor (as Bunny K. Andrews)
Wayne Bergeron	....	musician: trumpet
Gwen Bethel	....	music supervisor
Chris Bleth	....	musician: woodwind
Scott Cochran	....	music recordist
Terry Delsing	....	music editor
George Doering	....	musician: guitar
Tom Eaton	....	music consultant
Nathan Furst	....	score technical advisor
Ronnie Gutierrez	....	musician: percussion
Pat Lawrence	....	music consultant
Nick Nolan	....	musician: guitar, mandolin, banjo and ukulele
Roberto Prieto	....	assistant music supervisor
Spencer Proffer	....	music producer
Jimbo Ross	....	musician: viola
Dana Smart	....	music consultant
Michael Tavera	....	musician: hammond organ (as Mike Tavera)
Don Terbush	....	music consultant

Transportation Department
Michael Allegro	....	driver: production van
John W. Barbee	....	transportation coordinator
Ken Daly	....	driver: camera car
Nikki Allyn Grosso	....	driver
Sean C. Ryan	....	driver
Allen Strockbine	....	driver: production van
Jimmie K. Turner	....	transportation captain (as Jimmy Turner)
Michael Vieira	....	driver
Roger Bojarski Jr.	....	transportation co-captain (uncredited)

Other crew
Paul Abraham	....	craft service
Alexander Adell	....	3-D artist
Bob Anderson	....	water safety medic
Sarah Anthony	....	set production assistant
Michael Barnes	....	financial legal services
Leah Bathe	....	production assistant
Damon Bingham	....	assistant to producer: Michael Shamberg
Erin Borel	....	assistant production coordinator
Gordon Breakey	....	cook
Marcy Brown	....	stand-in
Blake Busby	....	graphic artist: titles
Amy Carroll	....	production assistant
Laurel Chaney	....	assistant: Ms. Curtis
Kim Clarke	....	stand-in
Jonathan Coney	....	craft service
Mike Currie	....	set production assistant
Cara D'Antoni	....	assistant: Ms. Midler, Los Angeles
Patti Dalzell	....	script supervisor
Jonathan Dana	....	production consultant
Robert Easton	....	dialect coach
Tony Ervolina	....	stand-in
David Falicki	....	set medic
John W. Felder	....	craft service
Gregory Fitzsimmons	....	set production assistant (as Greg Fitzsimmons)
Sandy Flowers	....	craft service
Wayne Forman	....	chef
Clare France	....	assistant to first and second assistant directors
Maura Gannett	....	studio teacher
Chase Gilbert	....	intern
Steve Guy	....	3-D artist
Mark Halloran	....	production attorney
Ian Harrington	....	second assistant: Mr. DeVito
Jim Hartz	....	studio teacher
Jill Hattersley	....	assistant: Ms. Midler, New York
Stuart Herr	....	office production assistant
George Herthel	....	location manager
Delphine Hirsh	....	assistant: Mr. Gomez
Annette Hobday	....	key set production assistant (as Annette Hawley)
Jimmy Holcomb	....	production coordinator
Ed Holley	....	key set production assistant
Michael Huss	....	intern
Greg Kappy	....	assistant location manager (as Gregg Kappe)
John Kawasaki	....	3-D supervisor
Michael Klastorin	....	unit publicist
Jerry Kokich	....	intern
Christian Krieger	....	location assistant
Julie Landholt	....	title coordinator
William Ley	....	cook
Gary Lucas	....	technician: HotHead
Shannon Maloney	....	production assistant
Craig Marks	....	stand-in
Neal D. McConnell	....	office production assistant
Lexi Mealy	....	intern
Jeff Miller	....	construction medic
James R. Millican	....	executive assistant to producers
Marva Mitchell	....	accounting clerk
Eric Nelson	....	set production assistant
Kim Olsen	....	first assistant accountant
Rose Ordile	....	animal trainer (as Rosemarie Ordile)
Roger Perez	....	cook
Jennifer Rae Smith	....	title coordinator
Anthony Ragonese	....	assistant location manager
John Wayne Randolph	....	craft service (as John Randolph)
Michael Randolph	....	craft service
Laurie Record	....	executive assistant: Mr. DeVito
Ron Resch	....	construction medic
Allen Scott Richards	....	technical advisor: police
Lujean Rose	....	animal trainer
Robyn Roth	....	production assistant
Dalhia Schuette	....	production assistant
Alan Schwartz	....	craft service
Fred Scialla	....	stand-in: Mr. DeVito (as Freddie Scialla)
Ron Segro	....	paymaster
Anna Siri	....	production assistant
Robert 'Skid' Skidmore	....	set production assistant
Marc E. Spiegel	....	location manager (as Mark Spiegel)
Mylan Stepanovich	....	payroll accountant
Marsha L. Swinton	....	production accountant
Elana Taylor	....	intern
Oakleigh Waits	....	intern
Heidi Wilcox	....	production assistant
Wendy Wilhite	....	studio teacher
Judy Sharinger	....	completion and delivery supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Code Entertainment
• Jersey Shore
• Marigold Productions Inc.
• Neverland Films

Distributors

• Moonlight Films (2001) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Alliance Atlantis Communications (Canada)
• Aquarius TV (2007) (Greece) (DVD)
• Aquarius TV (2007) (Greece) (TV)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• Ascot Elite Home Entertainment (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar (USA) (DVD)
• Destination Films (USA)
• Divisa Home Video (2011) (Spain) (DVD)
• Fox Crime (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Helkon Filmverleih GmbH (Germany)
• Laurus Entertainment (2001) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• New Films International
• Sandrews (2002) (Sweden) (DVD)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (France)
• Video Film Express (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Videosonic Arts (2003) (Greece) (video)

Special Effects

• Binary Designs
• THDX Studios (digital facilities provided by)
• Ultimate Effects

Other Companies

• Background Players  extras casting
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes
• Cine Finance  production guarantor
• Critters of the Cinema  animal training
• International Recording  sound re-recording
• New Standard Post/Sound  sound post-production
• Title House  titles and opticals
• Unique Catering  catering

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements, language and brief sexuality

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #37219) | Iceland:10 (theatrical rating) | Iceland:LH (video rating) | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company:

Code Entertainment

Trivia:

Every character's automobile has personalized plates.

Goofs:

Continuity: When all people are gathering in front of Rona's house, and two policemen are stepping out of their car, we can see Lucinda's pickup truck behind them. But few shots after it we can see Lucinda just arriving.

Quotes:

Chief Wyatt Rash:Along those lines.

Movie Connections:

References Fletch (1985)

Soundtrack:

Sure As I'm Sittin' Here

"White trash Murder on the Orient Express"

Maybe Danny DeVito and Bette Midler should collaborate more often. The two times they did it was comedy gold. While this movie is not as flat out hilarious as "Ruthless People," it should still be enjoyed by the same people who love that movie. It starts with a prologue stating how Verplanck, New York was the location where they decided to launch the Yugo line of cars in America. As a result, everyone in town, including the police, drives a Yugo car, and they all have catchy license plates like UGOMONA, ELLEEE, and OH RONE.

As the title suggests, this black little whodunit concerns who opted to rid the small town of Verplanck of its nastiest inhabitant, the matriarchal hag Mona Dearly (Midler, who chews up every inch of the screen in her "Rashomon"-esque flashback scenes). Police Chief Wyatt Rash (Danny DeVito, playing against type as the straight man), is determined to find out, even if nobody else cares to help. It's come at a bad time, because he's trying to help his daughter Ellie (Neve Campbell) plan her big wedding to mild-mannered land-scaper Bobby Calzone (Casey Affleck), who has just ended up short-handed after his beer-guzzling partner Jeff Dearly (Marcus Thomas, the epitome of slackerdom) takes a leave of absence. Bobby also seems unnaturally concerned with the the death of a woman who meant only bad things for him.

The characters, while bordering on cartoons, are played tongue-in-cheek, and you know the actors had fun doing it. There's the chain-smoking waitress Rhona Mace (Jamie Lee Curtis), who's having an affair with the deceased's husband Phil (William Fichtner, who walks away with the movie as a complete scumbag), and Bobby's overbearing brother Murph (Mark Pellegrino). The cops are just as zany, with Peter Coyote as the do-gooder lieutenant, and Paul Ben-Victor and Paul Schulze (Ryan Chapelle from "24") as a couple of bumbling idiots who seem to be good for one thing, looking out for Numbers One. There's Katherine Wilhoite as Lucinda, the lesbian folk-singer mechanic, and the great Tracey Walter is on board as the local fisherman who nobody really knows much about. Add in a foul-mouthed, alcoholic priest, and a funeral director who's also an amateur pornographer (Will Ferrell before he became huge), and it's a feast for those with a twisted sense of humor.